Positioning method and apparatus of target node in wireless ad hoc network, electronic device, and medium

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure provides a positioning method of a target node in a wireless ad hoc network, including: performing an initial positioning to obtain a first positioning result for the target node; determining, based on the first positioning result and a second positioning result for an other node in the wireless ad hoc network, whether a positioning error exists in the first positioning result or not, wherein the second positioning result at least contains an accurate second positioning result; and calculating a third positioning result for the target node based on the accurate second positioning result, in response to determining a positioning error exists in the first positioning result. The present disclosure further provides a positioning apparatus of a target node in a wireless ad hoc network, an electronic device, and a storage medium.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Section 371 National Stage Application ofInternational Application No. PCT/CN2020/090037, which claims priorityto the Chinese Patent Application No. 201910532216.5, filed on Jun. 19,2019 and entitled “POSITIONING METHOD AND APPARATUS OF TARGET NODE INWIRELESS AD HOC NETWORK, ELECTRONIC DEVICE, AND MEDIUM”, the disclosuresof which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a field of data processing technology,and in particular to a positioning method and apparatus of a target nodein a wireless ad hoc network, an electronic device, and a non-transitorymedium.

BACKGROUND

GPS (global positioning system) is a high-precision navigation andpositioning system but has a limited anti-jamming ability.

SUMMARY

In view of this, the objective of the embodiments of the presentdisclosure is to propose a positioning method and apparatus of a targetnode in a wireless ad hoc network, an electronic device, and anon-transitory medium.

Based on the above objective, a first aspect of the embodiments of thepresent disclosure proposes a positioning method of a target node in awireless ad hoc network, including: performing an initial positioning toobtain a first positioning result for the target node; determining,based on the first positioning result and a second positioning resultfor an other node in the wireless ad hoc network, whether a positioningerror exists in the first positioning result or not, wherein the secondpositioning result at least contains an accurate second positioningresult; and calculating a third positioning result for the target nodebased on the accurate second positioning result, in response todetermining a positioning error exists in the first positioning result.

For example, the calculating a third positioning result for the targetnode based on the accurate second positioning result includes: measuringa first distance, wherein the first distance is a point-to-pointdistance between the target node and an other node in the wireless adhoc network; receiving, from the other node, a cumulative hop distanceof a minimum hop path between the other node and an anchor node, whereinthe anchor node is a node associated with the accurate secondpositioning result; deriving a second distance between the target nodeand the anchor node based on the first distance and the cumulative hopdistance of the minimum hop path between the other node and the anchornode, wherein the second distance is a cumulative hop distance of aminimum hop path between the target node and the anchor node; andcalculating a third positioning result for the target node based on atleast two second distances to at least two anchor nodes and secondpositioning results for the at least two anchor nodes.

For example, the calculating a third positioning result for the targetnode based on at least two second distances to at least two anchor nodesand second positioning results for the at least two anchor nodesincludes: approximating the second distance to a respective Euclideandistance between the target node and the anchor node, so as to calculatethe third positioning result for the target node.

For example, the calculating the third positioning result includes:calculating the third positioning result by using a trilateration methodor a maximum likelihood method.

For example, the measuring a first distance includes: measuring thefirst distance by using a received signal strength indication method.

For example, in the positioning method of the target node in thewireless ad hoc network, the cumulative hop distance is propagated bythe other node using a distance vector routing method.

For example, the determining, based on the first positioning result anda second positioning result for an other node in the wireless ad hocnetwork, whether a positioning error exists in the first positioningresult or not includes: transmitting a wireless signal at a firsttransmission power to determine a first node communicable with thetarget node; transmitting a wireless signal at a second transmissionpower to determine a second node communicable with the target node,wherein a communication range of the second transmission power isdifferent from a communication range of the first transmission power;determining a third distance between the target node and the first nodeas well as a fourth distance between the target node and the secondnode, based on the communication range of the first transmission powerand the communication range of the second transmission power; anddetermining, based on the third distance, the fourth distance, the firstpositioning result, the second positioning result for the first node,and the second positioning result for the second node, whether apositioning error exists in the first positioning result or not.

For example, the performing an initial positioning to obtain a firstpositioning result for the target node includes: performing the initialpositioning by using a GPS positioning method to obtain the firstpositioning result for the target node.

A second aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure proposes apositioning apparatus of a target node in a wireless ad hoc network,including: an initial positioning module configured to perform aninitial positioning to obtain a first positioning result for the targetnode; a positioning error determination module configured to determine,based on the first positioning result and a second positioning resultfor an other node in the wireless ad hoc network, whether a positioningerror exists in the first positioning result or not, wherein the secondpositioning result at least contains an accurate second positioningresult; and a positioning error correction module configured tocalculate a third positioning result for the target node based on theaccurate second positioning result, in response to determining apositioning error exists in the first positioning result.

For example, the positioning error correction module is furtherconfigured to: measure a first distance, wherein the first distance is apoint-to-point distance between the target node and the other node inthe wireless ad hoc network; receive, from the other node, a cumulativehop distance of a minimum hop path between the other node and an anchornode, wherein the anchor node is a node associated with the accuratesecond positioning result; derive a second distance between the targetnode and the anchor node based on the first distance and the cumulativehop distance of the minimum hop path between the other node and theanchor node, wherein the second distance is a cumulative hop distance ofa minimum hop path between the target node and the anchor node; andcalculate a third positioning result for the target node based on atleast two second distances to at least two anchor nodes and secondpositioning results for the at least two anchor nodes.

For example, the positioning error determination module is furtherconfigured to: transmit a wireless signal at a first transmission powerto determine a first node communicable with the target node; transmit awireless signal at a second transmission power to determine a secondnode communicable with the target node, wherein a communication range ofthe second transmission power is different from a communication range ofthe first transmission power; determine a third distance between thetarget node and the first node as well as a fourth distance between thetarget node and the second node, based on the communication range of thefirst transmission power and the communication range of the secondtransmission power; and determine, based on the third distance, thefourth distance, the first positioning result, the second positioningresult for the first node, and the second positioning result for thesecond node, whether a positioning error exists in the first positioningresult or not.

A third aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure proposes anelectronic device, including: at least one processor; and a memorycommunicatively connected to the at least one processor, wherein thememory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor, andthe instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause theat least one processor to implement the method described above.

A fourth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure proposes anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium having a computerprogram stored thereon, wherein the computer program, when executed by aprocessor, implements steps of the method described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to more clearly explain the technical solutions in theembodiments of the present disclosure, the drawings of the embodimentswill be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings in thefollowing description are only some embodiments of the presentdisclosure, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a GPS positioning method.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic flowchart of a positioning method of a targetnode in a wireless ad hoc network provided by an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 3A shows a schematic flowchart of determining whether a positioningerror exists in the first positioning result or not in an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 3B shows a schematic diagram of a node relationship in determiningwhether a positioning error exists in the first positioning result ornot in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4A shows a schematic flowchart of calculating a third positioningresult for the target node based on an accurate second positioningresult in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4B shows a schematic diagram of a positional relationship betweennodes in the wireless ad hoc network according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 4C shows a schematic process diagram of data transmission betweennodes in the wireless ad hoc network in an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic module structural diagram of a positioningapparatus of a target node in a wireless ad hoc network provided by anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic structural diagram of a device of implementinga positioning method of a target node in a wireless ad hoc networkprovided by an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages ofthe present disclosure more clear, the technical solutions of theembodiments of the present disclosure are clearly and completelydescribed below with reference to the drawings of the embodiments of thepresent disclosure. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a partbut not all of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Based on theembodiments of the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained bypersons of ordinary skill in the art without carrying out creative workfall within the protection scope of the present disclosure.

Unless otherwise defined, technical terms or scientific terms used inthe present disclosure shall be of the general meaning understood by theordinary skilled in the art. The words “first,” “second,” and the likeused in the present disclosure do not denote any order, quantity orimportance, but are used to distinguish different components. Similarly,words such as “a”, “one” or “the” do not mean a limit in quantity, butmean at least one. The words “comprising,” “including” and the likeindicate that the element or item preceding the word contains theelements or items listed following the word as well as the equivalents,but do not exclude other elements or items. The words “connected,”“coupled,” or the like are not limited to physical or mechanicalconnections, but may include electrical connections, whether direct orindirect. The words “upper”, “lower”, “left”, “right” and the like areonly used to indicate relative positional relationship, and when theabsolute position of the object described is changed, the relativepositional relationship may also be correspondingly changed.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a GPS positioning method. As shownin FIG. 1, due to a presence of interference, positioning results fornodes obtained by the GPS positioning method may have differentpositioning errors, and the positioning errors for some seriouslyinterfered nodes are very large.

In a first aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, there isproposed a positioning method of a target node in a wireless ad hocnetwork, which may solve the problem of an inaccurate positioning resultfor a node to a certain extent.

As shown in FIG. 2, the positioning method of the target node in thewireless ad hoc network is optionally applied to the target node to bepositioned. The positioning method may include the following steps.

In step 11, an initial positioning is performed to obtain a firstpositioning result for the target node.

For example, the initial positioning may be performed by a positioningmodule provided in the target node, for example, a GPS positioningmodule provided in the target node.

For example, all nodes in the wireless ad hoc network may perform theinitial positioning by using their own positioning modules, and theseinitial positioning results may be propagated and exchanged among allnodes in the wireless ad hoc network.

In this embodiment, in order to distinguish an initial positioningresult for the target node from an initial positioning result for another node in the wireless ad hoc network, the initial positioningresult for the target node is referred to as a first positioning result,and the initial positioning result for the other node in the wireless adhoc network is referred to as a second positioning result. The targetnode may receive the initial positioning result for the other node (thesecond positioning result) from the other node.

For example, the performing an initial positioning to obtain a firstpositioning result for the target node includes: performing the initialpositioning by using a GPS positioning method to obtain the firstpositioning result for the target node.

Certainly, in addition to the GPS positioning method, those skilled inthe art may also use other common positioning methods to perform theinitial positioning, which will not be repeated here.

In step 12, whether a positioning error exists in the first positioningresult or not is determined based on the first positioning result andthe second positioning result for the other node in the wireless ad hocnetwork. The second positioning result may contain an accurate secondpositioning result and a second positioning result with a positioningerror.

Due to external interference, there may be an error in the initialpositioning result for the node (for example, the first positioningresult). However, whether an error exists in the initial positioningresult may not be determined based on the initial positioning resultonly. Therefore, it is necessary to use a mutual coordination betweenvarious nodes in the wireless ad hoc network to recognize the error inthe initial positioning result.

The wireless ad hoc network has strong anti-destroy ability. Even ifsome nodes are disturbed or even eliminated, the network may operatenormally. The wireless ad hoc network is also a cooperative network, andnodes in the network may cooperate with each other throughcommunication. Therefore, an interference correction of the GPSpositioning may be made through the wireless ad hoc network, therebyimproving the positioning accuracy.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, the determining, based on the firstpositioning result and a second positioning result for the other node inthe wireless ad hoc network, whether a positioning error exists in thefirst positioning result or not may further include the following steps.

In step 121, a wireless signal is transmitted at a first transmissionpower to determine a first node communicable with the target node.

In step 122, a wireless signal is transmitted at a second transmissionpower to determine a second node communicable with the target node. Acommunication range of the second transmission power is different from acommunication range of the first transmission power.

In step 123, a third distance between the target node and the first nodeas well as a fourth distance between the target node and the second nodeare determined based on the communication range of the firsttransmission power and the communication range of the secondtransmission power.

In step 124, whether a positioning error exists in the first positioningresult or not is determined based on the third distance, the fourthdistance, the first positioning result, the second positioning resultfor the first node, and the second positioning result for the secondnode.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3B, assuming that the first transmissionpower is less than the second transmission power, when a target node Atransmits a wireless signal at the first transmission power, only a nodeB may communicate with the target node A because the communication rangeof the first transmission power is smaller. The node B is referred to asa first node. When the target node A transmits a wireless signal at thesecond transmission power, both the node B and a node C may communicatewith the target node A because the communication range of the secondtransmission power is larger. The node C is referred to as a secondnode. Because the node C may communicate with the target node A onlywhen the communication range is larger, it may be determined that adistance between the node C and the target node A is greater than adistance between the node B and the target node A, and a differencebetween a fourth distance from the node C to the target node A and athird distance from the node B to the target node A is within a certainrange (for example, a difference between a transmission radius of thefirst transmission power and that of the second transmission power).Next, a distance from an initial positioning result A′ for the targetnode A to the node B and a distance from the initial positioning resultA′ to the node C are calculated based on the initial positioning resultA′ and the initial positioning results for the nodes B and C (forexample, the second positioning result). If the distance from theinitial positioning result A′ to the node B is greater than the distancefrom the initial positioning result A′ to the node C, or the distancefrom the initial positioning result A′ to the node B is less than thedistance from the initial positioning result A′ to the node C but adifference between the distances exceeds a certain range (for example,the difference between the transmission radius of the first transmissionpower and the transmission radius of the second transmission power), itindicates that the initial positioning result A′ may have a great errorand needs to be corrected.

In this embodiment, the distance from the target node to the first nodeand the distance from the target node to the second node are determinedby communication at transmission powers of different communicationranges, and then whether the first positioning result for the targetnode is accurate or not is determined based on the initial positioningresult for each node.

It should be noted that this embodiment requires that the referencenodes B and C have high initial positioning accuracy, but the initialpositioning generally may not be absolutely accurate. When the initialpositioning result is the GPS positioning result, considering that GPSjamming has a certain regionality, this embodiment may select multiplereference nodes to jointly determine the positioning error for thetarget node. That is, a multi-node joint error determination scheme isadopted to avoid the problem of inaccurate positioning data for a singlereference node.

In step 13, a third positioning result for the target node is calculatedbased on the accurate second positioning result, in response todetermining a positioning error exists in the first positioning result.Here, the third positioning result calculated is an accurate positioningresult for the target node.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4A, the calculating a third positioningresult for the target node based on the accurate second positioningresult may further include the following steps.

In step 131, a first distance is measured.

For example, each node in the wireless ad hoc network respectivelycalculates a point-to-point distance between the each node and the othernode in the network. Here, the first distance is the point-to-pointdistance between the target node and the other node in the wireless adhoc network.

For example, the measuring a first distance includes: measuring thefirst distance by using a received signal strength indication method.

In step 132, a cumulative hop distance of a minimum hop path between theother node and an anchor node is received from the other node. Theanchor node is a node associated with the accurate second positioningresult. Optionally, the anchor node may be determined by the method inthe step 12 described above. For example, each node in the wireless adhoc network may determine whether its initial positioning result isaccurate or not by the method in the step 12 described above. When somenodes determine that their initial positioning results are accurate,information indicating that the initial positioning results are accurateis broadcast in the wireless ad hoc network. After receiving theinformation, the other node may use the nodes associated with theaccurate initial positioning results as anchor nodes, and use therelevant information of the anchor nodes to correct its initialpositioning result. As shown in FIG. 4B, nodes N2 and N3 are anchornodes, which occupy a small proportion in the network. The nodes otherthan the anchor nodes, such as nodes U1, U2, N1, etc., are unknownnodes, and their initial positioning results need to be corrected.

For example, in the positioning method of the target node in thewireless ad hoc network, the cumulative hop distance is propagated bythe other node using a distance vector routing method. The distancevector routing method is introduced as follows.

For example, the anchor node periodically broadcasts its own positionbeacon containing hop numbers and the cumulative hop distance (both areinitialized to 0) to the wireless ad hoc network. The hop distancementioned here is a point-to-point distance between nodes. In additionto the first distance in the step 131, the other nodes in the wirelessad hoc network may also calculate their respective point-to-pointdistances to another node, which are accumulated when propagating thecumulative hop distance.

The node that receives the beacon only records information of the anchornode transmitted from the minimum hop path, and accumulates all hopdistances in the minimum hop path. Then, the node adds 1 to the hopnumber and forwards the beacon.

Finally, each node in the wireless ad hoc network may respectivelyobtain the cumulative hop distance of the minimum hop path from the eachnode to the corresponding anchor node.

As shown in FIG. 4C, each of anchor nodes A1, A2, A3, A4 may transmit aninformation packet containing its own information to an unknown node Uby using the wireless ad hoc network. Communication between the unknownnode U and the anchor node A1 may pass through another unknown node T.When the anchor node A1 transmits the information packet to theintermediate node T, the intermediate node T may know a distance fromthe intermediate node T to the anchor node A1. When the intermediatenode T forwards the information packet of the anchor node A1 to theunknown node U, the distance from the intermediate node T to the anchornode A1 is accumulated on the cumulative hop distance variable.Therefore, when the unknown node U receives the information packetforwarded, it may obtain a distance between U and A1 by adding thedistance between the unknown node U and the intermediate node T to thecumulative hop distance variable received.

For example, the cumulative hop distance from A1 to U in FIG. 4C is2+3=5. Similarly, it may be obtained that the cumulative hop distancesfrom the other anchor nodes A2, A3, A4 to the unknown node are 2, 2+3,2+2+2, respectively. The above numbers are respective hop distancesbetween the corresponding nodes.

In step 133. The second distance is a cumulative hop distance of aminimum hop path between the target node and the anchor node.

In the step 132, the target node receives the cumulative hop distance ofthe minimum hop path between the other node and the anchor node, andthen adds the point-to-point distance between the target node and theother node, thereby obtaining the cumulative hop distance between thetarget node and the anchor node. Next, one of these cumulative hopdistances corresponding to the minimum hop path is taken as thecumulative hop distance of the minimum hop path between the target nodeand the corresponding anchor node, and then as the second distancebetween the target node and the anchor node to calculate the thirdpositioning result.

For example, the second distance is approximated to a respectiveEuclidean distance between the target node and the anchor node.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4C, approximate Euclidean distancesbetween the unknown node U and the anchor nodes A1, A2, A3, A4 arerespectively expressed as: D(U,1)=2+3, that is, the distance from theanchor node A1 to the intermediate node T plus the hop distance from theintermediate node T to the target node U; D(U, 2)=2, that is, the hopdistance from the anchor node A2 to the target node U; D(U, 3)=3+2, thatis, the hop distance from the anchor node A3 to an intermediate node Pplus the hop distance from intermediate node P to the target node U;D(U, 4)=2+2+2, that is, the hop distance from the anchor node A4 to anintermediate node O plus the hop distance from the intermediate node Oto an intermediate node Q plus the hop distance from the intermediatenode Q to the target node U. Then, a system of equations may beestablished to solve a position of the unknown node U.

In this way, for example, the calculating a third positioning result forthe target node based on at least two second distances to at least twoanchor nodes and second positioning results for the at least two anchornodes may include: approximating the second distance to a respectiveEuclidean distance between the target node and the anchor node, so as tocalculate the third positioning result for the target node.

In step 134, the third positioning result for the target node iscalculated based on at least two second distances to the at least twoanchor nodes and second positioning results for the at least two anchornodes.

For example, the calculating the third positioning result includes:calculating the third positioning result by using a trilateration methodor a maximum likelihood method.

For example, suppose coordinates of the anchor nodes are respectively A1(a1, b1), A2 (a2, b2), A3 (a3, b3), A4 (a4, b4), and U (x, y) is to besolved, where (x−a1)²+(y−b1)²=5², (x−a2)²+(y−b2)²=2²,(x−a3)²+(y−b3)²=5², (x−a4)²+(y−b4)²=6².

In this way, x and y may be solved, and then the third positioningresult for the target node may be obtained.

Therefore, the coordinates of the target node may be obtained when twocumulative hop distances of the minimum hop paths between the targetnode and two anchor nodes are known. When more than two cumulative hopdistances of the minimum hop paths are known, calibration processingsuch as averaging may be performed on the calculated x and y values. Thespecific method may be designed according to needs, and will not berepeated here.

In this embodiment, by measuring the first distance and receiving thecumulative hop distance of the minimum hop path between the other nodeand the anchor node, the second distance between the target node and theanchor node is derived based on the cumulative hop distance of theminimum hop path, and the third positioning result for the anchor nodeis finally calculated based on the second positioning result for theanchor node. In this way, the positioning result for the target node isrecalculated by using the wireless ad hoc network and the anchor nodesthat are accurately positioned, which improves the positioning accuracy.

This embodiment improves the survivability of all blind nodes by usingthe advantages of multi-hop communication and anti-attack ability of thead hoc network, and improves the positioning accuracy of the blind nodesby using the cooperation between nodes. Therefore, the anti-jammingability of the positioning method is improved by using the advantages ofthe ad hoc network

For example, the positioning method of the target node in the wirelessad hoc network may further include step 14. In the step 14, the firstpositioning result is taken as the positioning result for the targetnode in response to determining that the first positioning result isaccurate, and the positioning process may end.

According to the above embodiments, in the positioning method of thetarget node in the wireless ad hoc network provided by the embodimentsof the present disclosure, whether an error exists in the firstpositioning result or not is determined based on the initial positioningresult for each node. When an error exists, the positioning result iscorrected by using characteristics of the wireless ad hoc network andthe accurate second positioning result, thereby obtaining an accuratethird positioning result. By making positioning correction using thecharacteristics of the wireless ad hoc network, the problem ofinaccurate positioning of the node may be solved to a certain extent,and the positioning accuracy may be improved.

In a second aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, thereis proposed a positioning apparatus of a target node in a wireless adhoc network, which may solve the problem of inaccurate positioning ofthe node to a certain extent.

As shown in FIG. 5, the positioning apparatus of the target node in thewireless ad hoc network includes: an initial positioning module 21configured to perform an initial positioning to obtain a firstpositioning result for the target node; a positioning errordetermination module 22 configured to determine, based on the firstpositioning result and a second positioning result for an other node inthe wireless ad hoc network, whether a positioning error exists in thefirst positioning result or not, wherein the second positioning resultmay contain an accurate second positioning result and a secondpositioning result with a positioning error; a positioning errorcorrection module 23 configured to calculate a third positioning resultfor the target node based on the accurate second positioning result, inresponse to determining a positioning error exists in the firstpositioning result.

According to the above embodiments, in the positioning method of thetarget node in the wireless ad hoc network provided by the embodimentsof the present disclosure, whether an error exists in the firstpositioning result or not is determined based on the initial positioningresult for each node. When an error exists, the positioning result iscorrected by using characteristics of the wireless ad hoc network andthe accurate second positioning result, thereby obtaining an accuratethird positioning result. By making positioning correction using thecharacteristics of the wireless ad hoc network, the problem ofinaccurate positioning of the node may be solved to a certain extent,and the positioning accuracy may be improved.

For example, the positioning error correction module 23 is configuredto: measure a first distance, wherein the first distance is apoint-to-point distance between the target node and the other node inthe wireless ad hoc network; receive, from the other node, a cumulativehop distance of a minimum hop path between the other node and an anchornode, wherein the anchor node is a node associated with the accuratesecond positioning result; derive a second distance between the targetnode and the anchor node based on the first distance and the cumulativehop distance of the minimum hop path between the other node and theanchor node, wherein the second distance is a cumulative hop distance ofa minimum hop path between the target node and the anchor node;calculate a third positioning result for the target node based on atleast two second distances to at least two anchor nodes and secondpositioning results for the at least two anchor nodes.

For example, the positioning error correction module 23 is configured tomeasure the first distance by using a received signal strengthindication method.

For example, the positioning error correction module 23 is configured topropagate the cumulative hop distance by using a distance vector routingmethod.

For example, the second distance is a Euclidean distance between thetarget node and the anchor node.

For example, the positioning error correction module 23 is configured tocalculate the third positioning result by using a trilateration methodor a maximum likelihood method.

For example, the positioning error determination module 22 is configuredto: transmit a wireless signal at a first transmission power todetermine a first node communicable with the target node; transmit awireless signal at a second transmission power to determine a secondnode communicable with the target node, wherein a communication range ofthe second transmission power is different from a communication range ofthe first transmission power; determine a third distance between thetarget node and the first node as well as a fourth distance between thetarget node and the second node, based on the communication range of thefirst transmission power and the communication range of the secondtransmission power; determine, based on the third distance, the fourthdistance, the first positioning result, the second positioning resultfor the first node, and the second positioning result for the secondnode, whether a positioning error exists in the first positioning resultor not.

For example, the initial positioning module 21 is configured to performthe initial positioning by using a GPS positioning method to obtain thefirst positioning result for the target node.

The above embodiments of the positioning apparatus of the target node inthe wireless ad hoc network basically correspond to the aboveembodiments of the positioning method of the target node in the wirelessad hoc network. Technical effects of the embodiments of the positioningapparatus of the target node in the wireless ad hoc network will not berepeated here.

Based on the above objectives, the third aspect of the embodiments ofthe present disclosure proposes an embodiment of a device of performingthe positioning method of the target node in the wireless ad hocnetwork. FIG. 6 shows a schematic hardware structural diagram of anembodiment of the device of performing the positioning method of thetarget node in the wireless ad hoc network provided by the presentdisclosure.

As shown in FIG. 6, the device of performing the positioning method ofthe target node in the wireless ad hoc network includes one or moreprocessors 31 and a memory 32. In FIG. 6, one processor 31 isillustrated by way of example.

The device of performing the positioning method of the target node inthe wireless ad hoc network may further include an input device 33 andan output device 34.

The processor 31, the memory 32, the input device 33 and the outputdevice 34 may be connected by a bus or other methods. In FIG. 6, theconnection by a bus is illustrated by way of example.

The memory 32, as a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, maybe used to store non-transitory software programs, non-transitorycomputer-executable programs and modules, such as programinstructions/modules corresponding to the positioning method of thetarget node in the wireless ad hoc network in the embodiments of thepresent disclosure (for example, the initial positioning module 21, thepositioning error determination module 22 and the positioning errorcorrection module 23 shown in FIG. 5). The processor 31 executes variousfunctional applications and data processing of the server by executingthe non-transient software programs, instructions and modules stored inthe memory 32, thereby implementing the positioning method of the targetnode in the wireless ad hoc network in the embodiments of the methodmentioned above.

The memory 32 may include a program storage area and a data storagearea. The program storage area may store an operating system and anapplication program required by at least one function. The data storagearea may store data etc. generated by using the device according to thepositioning method of the target node in the wireless ad hoc network. Inaddition, the memory 32 may include a high-speed random access memory,and may further include a non-transitory memory, such as at least onemagnetic disk storage device, a flash memory device, or othernon-transitory solid-state storage devices. In some embodiments, thememory 32 may optionally include a memory provided remotely with respectto the processor 31, and such remote memory may be connected through anetwork to the device of performing the positioning method of the targetnode in the wireless ad hoc network. Examples of the above-mentionednetwork include, but are not limited to the Internet, intranet, localarea network, mobile communication network, and combination thereof.

The input device 33 may receive input information of numbers orcharacter, and generate key input signals related to user settings andfunction control of the device of performing the positioning method ofthe target node in the wireless ad hoc network. The output device 1104may include a display device such as a display screen.

One or more modules are stored in the memory 32, and when executed bythe one or more processors 31, perform the positioning method of thetarget node in the wireless ad hoc network in any of the embodiments ofthe method described above. Technical effects of the embodiments of thedevice of performing the positioning method of the target node in thewireless ad hoc network are the same as or similar to those of any ofthe embodiments of the method described above.

The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a non-transitorycomputer storage medium having computer-executable instructions storedthereon. The computer-executable instructions may execute the processingmethod of the list item operation in any of the embodiments of themethod described above. Technical effects of the embodiments of thenon-transitory computer storage medium are the same as or similar tothose of any of the embodiments of the method described above.

Finally, it should be noted that those ordinary skilled in the art mayunderstand that all or part of the processes of the method in theembodiments described above may be implemented by a computer programinstructing relevant hardware. The program may be stored in a computerreadable storage medium. When the program is executed, it may includethe processes of the embodiments of the method described above. Thestorage medium may be a magnetic disk, an optical disc, a read-onlymemory (ROM), or a random access memory (RAM), etc. Technical effects ofthe embodiments of the computer program are the same as or similar tothose of any of the embodiments of the method described above.

In addition, typically, the apparatus and device described in thepresent disclosure may be various electronic terminal devices, such as amobile phone, a personal digital assistants (PDA), a tablet computer(such as a PAD), a smart TV, etc., or a large-scale terminal device,such as a server. Therefore, the protection scope of the presentdisclosure should not be limited to a specific type of apparatus ordevice. In addition, the method according to the present disclosure mayalso be implemented as a computer program executed by a CPU, and thecomputer program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium.When the computer program is executed by the CPU, the above-mentionedfunctions defined in the method of the present disclosure are executed.

In addition, the above method steps and system units may also beimplemented by using a controller and a computer-readable storage mediumfor storing a computer program that causes the controller to implementthe above steps or unit functions.

In addition, it should be understood that the computer-readable storagemedium (such as a memory) described herein may be a transitory memory ora non-transitory memory, or may include both transitory memory andnon-transitory memory. By way of example and not limitation, thenon-transitory memory may include a read only memory (ROM), aprogrammable ROM (PROM), an electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), anelectrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. Thetransitory memory may include a random access memory (RAM), which mayact as an external cache memory. By way of example and not limitation,the RAM may be obtained in various forms, such as a synchronous RAM(SRAM), a dynamic RAM (DRAM), a synchronous dynamic DRAM (SDRAM), adouble data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), an enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), asynchronous link DRAM (SLDRAM), and a direct RambusRAM (DRRAM). Thestorage devices of the disclosed aspects are intended to include, butare not limited to these and other suitable types of memory.

Those skilled in the art may also understand that the various exemplarylogic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described inconjunction with the disclosure herein may be implemented as electronichardware, computer software, or a combination of both. In order toclearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software,functions of various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits,and steps have been described in general terms. Whether these functionsare implemented as software or hardware depends on specific applicationsand design constraints imposed on the entire system. Those skilled inthe art may implement the described functions in various ways for eachspecific application, but such implementation should not be interpretedas causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

The various exemplary logic blocks, modules and circuits described inconjunction with the disclosure herein may be implemented or executedusing the following components designed to perform the functionsdescribed herein: a general-purpose processor, a digital signalprocessor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), afield programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device,discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anycombination of these components. The general-purpose processor may be amicroprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be anyconventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine.The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computingdevices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor,multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with aDSP core, or any other such configuration.

The steps of the method or algorithm described in combination with thedisclosure herein may be directly included in hardware, a softwaremodule executed by a processor, or a combination of the two. Thesoftware module may reside in a RAM memory, a flash memory, a ROMmemory, an EPROM memory, an EEPROM memory, a register, a hard disk, aremovable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known inthe art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor suchthat the processor may read information from or write information to thestorage medium. In an alternative scheme, the storage medium may beintegrated with the processor. The processor and the storage medium mayreside in the ASIC. The ASIC may reside in the user terminal. In analternative solution, the processor and the storage medium may reside asdiscrete components in the user terminal.

In one or more exemplary designs, the functions described may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.If implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or moreinstructions or codes on a computer-readable medium or transmittedthrough the computer-readable medium. The computer-readable mediumincludes a computer storage medium and a communication medium. Thecommunication medium includes any medium that facilitates a transfer ofa computer program from one location to another location. The storagemedium may be any available medium that may be accessed by ageneral-purpose or special-purpose computer. By way of example and notlimitation, the computer-readable medium may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM,CD-ROM or other optical disk storage devices, magnetic disk storagedevices or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that maybe used for carrying or storing required program code in the form ofinstructions or data structure and may be accessed by a general-purposeor special-purpose computer or a general-purpose or special-purposeprocessor. In addition, any connection may be properly called acomputer-readable medium. For example, if a coaxial cable, a fiber opticcable, a twisted pair, a digital subscriber line (DSL), or wirelesstechnologies such as infrared, radio and microwave are used to transmitsoftware from a website, server or other remote source, theabove-mentioned coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL orwireless technologies such as infrared, radio and microwave are allcontained in the definition of medium. As used herein, the magnetic diskand the optical disk includes compact disk (CD), laser disk, opticaldisk, digital versatile disk (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disk. Themagnetic disk usually reproduces data magnetically, while the opticaldisk optically reproduces data by using laser. Combinations of the abovecontents should also be included in the scope of the computer-readablemedium.

It should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made tothe exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure without departingfrom the scope of the present disclosure defined by the claims. Thefunctions, steps and/or actions of the method claims according to thedisclosed embodiments described herein do not need to be executed in anyspecific order. In addition, although the elements of the presentdisclosure may be described or required in an individual form, aplurality may also be envisaged, unless explicitly limited to asingular.

It should be understood that the singular form “a” as used herein isintended to also include the plural form, unless the context clearlysupports an exception. It should also be understood that “and/or” asused herein refers to any and all possible combinations including one ormore items listed in association.

The sequence numbers of the above-mentioned embodiments of the presentdisclosure are only for description, and do not represent good and badof the embodiments.

Those ordinary skilled in the art may understand that all or part of thesteps in the above-mentioned embodiments may be implemented by hardware,or by a program instructing related hardware. The program may be storedin a computer-readable storage medium. The storage medium mentionedabove may be a read-only memory, a magnetic disk or an optical disk,etc.

Those ordinary skilled in the art should understand that the discussionof any of the above embodiments is only exemplary, and is not intendedto imply that the scope of the present disclosure (including the claims)is limited to these examples. Under the idea of the embodiments of thepresent disclosure, the embodiments or the technical features indifferent embodiments may also be combined, and there are many otherchanges in different aspects of the embodiments of the presentdisclosure as described above. For brevity, they are not provided indetails. Therefore, any omissions, modifications, equivalentreplacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principle ofthe embodiments of the present disclosure should be included in theprotection scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

1. A positioning method of a target node in a wireless ad hoc network,comprising: performing an initial positioning to obtain a firstpositioning result for the target node; determining, based on the firstpositioning result and a second positioning result for an other node inthe wireless ad hoc network, whether a positioning error exists in thefirst positioning result or not, wherein the second positioning resultat least contains an accurate second positioning result; and calculatinga third positioning result for the target node based on the accuratesecond positioning result, in response to determining a positioningerror exists in the first positioning result.
 2. The positioning methodof claim 1, wherein the calculating a third positioning result for thetarget node based on the accurate second positioning result comprises:measuring a first distance, wherein the first distance is apoint-to-point distance between the target node and an other node in thewireless ad hoc network; receiving, from the other node, a cumulativehop distance of a minimum hop path between the other node and an anchornode, wherein the anchor node is a node associated with the accuratesecond positioning result; deriving a second distance between the targetnode and the anchor node based on the first distance and the cumulativehop distance of the minimum hop path between the other node and theanchor node, wherein the second distance is a cumulative hop distance ofa minimum hop path between the target node and the anchor node; andcalculating a third positioning result for the target node based on atleast two second distances to at least two anchor nodes and secondpositioning results for the at least two anchor nodes.
 3. Thepositioning method of claim 2, wherein the calculating a thirdpositioning result for the target node based on at least two seconddistances to at least two anchor nodes and second positioning resultsfor the at least two anchor nodes comprises: approximating the seconddistance to a respective Euclidean distance between the target node andthe anchor node, so as to calculate the third positioning result for thetarget node.
 4. The positioning method of claim 2, wherein thecalculating a third positioning result comprises: calculating the thirdpositioning result by using a trilateration method or a maximumlikelihood method.
 5. The positioning method of claim 2, wherein themeasuring a first distance comprises: measuring the first distance byusing a received signal strength indication method.
 6. The positioningmethod of claim 2, wherein the cumulative hop distance is propagated bythe other node using a distance vector routing method.
 7. Thepositioning method of claim 1, wherein the determining, based on thefirst positioning result and a second positioning result for an othernode in the wireless ad hoc network, whether a positioning error existsin the first positioning result or not comprises: transmitting awireless signal at a first transmission power to determine a first nodecommunicable with the target node; transmitting a wireless signal at asecond transmission power to determine a second node communicable withthe target node, wherein a communication range of the secondtransmission power is different from a communication range of the firsttransmission power; determining a third distance between the target nodeand the first node as well as a fourth distance between the target nodeand the second node, based on the communication range of the firsttransmission power and the communication range of the secondtransmission power; and determining, based on the third distance, thefourth distance, the first positioning result, the second positioningresult for the first node, and the second positioning result for thesecond node, whether a positioning error exists in the first positioningresult or not.
 8. The positioning method of claim 1, wherein theperforming an initial positioning to obtain a first positioning resultfor the target node comprises: performing the initial positioning byusing a GPS positioning method to obtain the first positioning resultfor the target node.
 9. A positioning apparatus of a target node in awireless ad hoc network, comprising: an initial positioning moduleconfigured to perform an initial positioning to obtain a firstpositioning result for the target node; a positioning errordetermination module configured to determine, based on the firstpositioning result and a second positioning result for an other node inthe wireless ad hoc network, whether a positioning error exists in thefirst positioning result or not, wherein the second positioning resultat least contains an accurate second positioning result; and apositioning error correction module configured to calculate a thirdpositioning result for the target node based on the accurate secondpositioning result, in response to determining a positioning errorexists in the first positioning result.
 10. The positioning apparatus ofclaim 9, wherein the positioning error correction module is furtherconfigured to: measure a first distance, wherein the first distance is apoint-to-point distance between the target node and an other node in thewireless ad hoc network; receive, from the other node, a cumulative hopdistance of a minimum hop path between the other node and an anchornode, wherein the anchor node is a node associated with the accuratesecond positioning result; derive a second distance between the targetnode and the anchor node based on the first distance and the cumulativehop distance of the minimum hop path between the other node and theanchor node, wherein the second distance is a cumulative hop distance ofa minimum hop path between the target node and the anchor node; andcalculating a third positioning result for the target node based on atleast two second distances to at least two anchor nodes and secondpositioning results for the at least two anchor nodes.
 11. Thepositioning apparatus of claim 9, wherein the positioning errordetermination module is further configured to: transmit a wirelesssignal at a first transmission power to determine a first nodecommunicable with the target node; transmit a wireless signal at asecond transmission power to determine a second node communicable withthe target node, wherein a communication range of the secondtransmission power is different from a communication range of the firsttransmission power; determine a third distance between the target nodeand the first node as well as a fourth distance between the target nodeand the second node, based on the communication range of the firsttransmission power and the communication range of the secondtransmission power; and determine, based on the third distance, thefourth distance, the first positioning result, the second positioningresult for the first node, and the second positioning result for thesecond node, whether a positioning error exists in the first positioningresult or not.
 12. An electronic device, comprising: at least oneprocessor; and a memory communicatively connected to the at least oneprocessor, wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the atleast one processor, and the instructions, when executed by the at leastone processor, cause the at least one processor to implement thepositioning method of claim
 1. 13. A non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein thecomputer program, when executed by a processor, causes the processor toimplement the method of claim 1.